The present invention relates to a lock assembly, and more particularly, to a lock assembly including two or three lock states.
Conventional lock assemblies generally include an outer handle and an inner handle respectively attached to the outside and the inside of a door or other structure so that a latch or bolt can be retracted by turning either one of the outer handle and the inner handle. Some lock assemblies include three lock modes or states that control whether the outer handle and/or the inner handle can be used to open the door. In these lock assemblies, the outer and inner handles each have a hub that rotates in response to rotation of the corresponding handle, which in turn can retract the latch in the appropriate lock state. A lock bar is directly engageable with these hubs to selectively allow or prevent retraction of the latch depending on the lock state of the lock assembly.